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Man charged with 5th OUI after hitting, injuring girl in South Boston

SOUTH BOSTON (WHDH) — A 78-year-old man was charged with his fifth OUI after police said he hit and seriously injured a 12-year-old girl in South Boston on Saturday.

Shalynn Bobbitt was walking her bicycle across Old Colony Avenue late Saturday afternoon when police said she was struck by a Ford Explorer driven by Richard Higgins.

Police said Higgins lost control, swerved into Shalynn and then tried to flee the scene. Higgins allegedly crashed into several other cars on as he tried driving away.

Higgins was arraigned Monday in Boston District Court and ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing. Prosecutors said Higgins was driving without a valid license and that the offense marked his fifth OUI charge.

The defense argued that only three of the five charges are valid because two date back about 50 years.

Shalynn remains hospitalized at Tufts Medical Center with a head injury, lacerated injury and broken pelvis. The girl’s mother, Kelly Bobbitt, said she is conscious but in serious condition and will undergo surgery on Monday.

“I wish I could take her pain, I really do,” said Bobbitt. “I wish I could be here and not her.”

Higgins is due back in court on Aug. 10.

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